While the rest of America wakes up to the first full day of an Obama presidency, the Sundance film festival appears to be still haunted by the ghosts of the last administration. Armando Iannucci's In the Loop, an acid satire that spotlights the run-up to the 2003 war on Iraq, premiered in Park City yesterday to glowing reviews.

In the Loop is the big-screen companion piece to Iannucci's acclaimed BBC series The Thick of It. The film widens its focus beyond the confines of Whitehall to explores how the Iraq invasion was sold to the public on both sides of the Atlantic. It stars Tom Hollander as a diffident, gaffe-prone British minister who is packed off to Washington DC, where he becomes a pawn in the political opposition to the war. Peter Capaldi reprises his TV role as Malcolm Tucker, a splenetic, combative director of communications who may be loosely based on Alastair Campbell. Sopranos star James Gandolfini takes a pivotal supporting role as a sceptical US general.

Reviewers at Sundance have hailed the film as a breath of fresh air: a sharp, quick-witted political farce that blends aspects of Yes Minister, The Office and such vintage British comedies as Our Man in Havana. The Times, in a five-star writeup, claimed that "this stark, foul-mouthed black comedy is an artfully written skit that combines pin-sharp characterisation with brutally effective one-liners", and described it as "a classic British comedy reminiscent of the very best of old Ealing". Trade magazine Variety commented that "intelligent political satire this expertly acted is nothing to sneeze at".

Elsewhere, however, Screen International struck a note of caution, admitting that In the Loop was likely to play well in the UK but suggesting that American audiences might now want to put the film's subject matter behind them. "US fans of The Office could rally for this one," it admitted, "although its exuberant, boundless cynicism will test the demand for political satire in an Obama-infatuated America."

Charles Gant: Armando Iannucci's film converted its critical acclaim into a solid opening at the weekend, one of the films that helped the UK box office to a healthy 47% rise over the same period last year